AI Biweekly: New European Ethical AI Guidelines; Microsoft & BMW Partner on IoT Manufacturing

Biweekly Review

Hongxi Li — Analyst, Global Industry

Europe Unveils Guidelines on Ethical AI Development

The European Commission has published a set of guidelines to help companies and governments develop ethical artificial intelligence applications. The guidelines define seven principles: human agency and oversight, robustness and safety, privacy and data governance, transparency, diversity, non-discrimination and fairness, societal and environmental well-being, and accountability.

The transparency stipulation requires AI systems be verifiable during their entire life cycle. People should have the right to be informed while engaging with an algorithm and be involved in the decision-making process. Ensuring non-discrimination and fairness is another challenge. Companies should guarantee their AI systems are fair and inclusive to all users. The EU’s strong ethics focus is unique in the global AI community, reflecting perhaps the region trailing both the US and China in AI investment and innovation.

April 8 — Europe to Pilot AI Ethics Rules, Calls for Participants

• The European Commission launches a pilot project to test draft ethical rules for artificial intelligence technology development and applications to ensure their appropriate implementation.
• https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/08/europe-to-pilot-ai-ethics-rules-calls-for-participants/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

Ivan Zhou — Analyst, Global Industry

Microsoft Azure Partners with BMW to Build IoT Platform in Manufacturing

BMW has announced a partnership with Microsoft Azure to build an open platform for IoT in the manufacturing space. Currently, the IoT platforms used by most manufacturers are proprietary and closed, which increases costs and friction in collaboration and vendor services. The new Open Manufacturing Platform aims to address the problem by developing a set of IoT manufacturing standards covering functions from machine connectivity to on-premise data centres. This platform could be a win-win for both parties: BMW can set standards for the industry, especially in its core business of car manufacturing; while the standards will be mostly based on the Azure Cloud platform, which can help Microsoft continue to build in this area. Last year, Microsoft Azure established a partnership with Volkswagen on connected car services.

April 2 — BMW Partners with Microsoft Azure to Build Open IoT Platform in Manufacturing

• The BMW Group partners with Microsoft on a new Open Manufacturing Platform. The effort aims to develop a set of Internet of Things standards in manufacturing sectors covering machine connectivity, in-factory transport systems, on-premises systems, etc.
• The new platform will be built on Microsoft’s industrial IoT platform under Azure Cloud.
• Most of the platforms used in manufacturing are proprietary and specific to each manufacturer. The new platform aims to make collaboration easier and more efficient in this industry.
• https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/02/microsoft-teams-up-with-bmw-for-the-iot-focused-open-manufacturing-platform/

10 AI News You Must Know

April 12 — Smart Farming, Tea Planting in Makinohara, Field Trials in Shimada Shizuoka Prefecture

• https://www.at-s.com/news/article/economy/shizuoka/621818.html

April 11 — Partners HealthCare Pledges to Make AI Tools Accessible to Clinicians, Researchers

• https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/artificial-intelligence/partners-healthcare-pledges-to-make-ai-tools-accessible-to-clinicians-researchers.html

April 10 — Google Announces AI-Powered Tools for Retail and E-Commerce

• https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/10/google-cloud-takes-aim-at-verticals-starting-with-new-set-of-tools-for-retailers/

April 9 — Intel and Google Cloud Announce Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Hybrid Cloud

• https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/intel-google-cloud-announce-strategic-partnership-accelerate-hybrid-cloud/

April 9 — inVia Robotics Expands Rakuten Super Logistics Deployment to Multiple New Locations Across the US.

• https://aithority.com/robots/invia-robotics-expands-rakuten-super-logistics-deployment-to-multiple-new-locations-across-the-us/

April 9 — EY Announces Solution Designed to Gauge AI Impact and Trustworthiness

• https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ey-announces-the-first-solution-designed-to-help-gauge-impact-and-trustworthiness-of-artificial-intelligence-systems-815202081.html

April 8 — NVIDIA Spins Up its GPUs to Accelerate AI-driven Medical Diagnosis and Drug Discovery

• https://siliconangle.com/2019/04/08/nvidia-spins-gpus-accelerate-ai-driven-medical-diagnosis-drug-discovery/

April 8 — CIFAR Announces New Research Programs and AI Chairs

• https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/cifar-announces-new-research-programs-and-ai-chairs-896519642.html

April 4 — Google Cancels AI Ethics Board in Response to Outcry

• https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18295933/google-cancels-ai-ethics-board

April 3 — Emedgene Is Expanding Its NLP Capabilities

• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emedgene-broadens-its-nlp-capabilities-with-automatic-evidence-retrieval-from-genomics-literature-300824085.html

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